Three Israelis were killed by rockets from Gaza earlier, while 15 Palestinians have been killed in two days of Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Israel said 274 missiles had been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel since Wednesday afternoon, when an Israeli strike killed the military leader of Hamas, Ahmed Jabari.

While some of those missiles have been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system, others have hit their targets, including a direct hit on a block of flats in the town of Kiryat Malachi.

Two women and a man living on the top floor were killed.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said: “This escalation will exact a price that the other side will have to pay.”

‘Steadfast’

However, Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned what he called Israel’s “ferocious assault” against Gaza.